Skophos

When Akros soldiers encounter Minotaur in ordered squads, patrolling the badlands on predictable routes, clad in armor and wielding bronze weapons, they tend to speak of the “Bronzebone band,” as if these minotaurs were just one more faction competing for dominance in Phoberos. But these minotaurs aren’t just one more raiding band; they are the soldiers of Skophos, the minotaur polis.

Skophos stands as a literal maze, its twisting streets carved from the red sandstone of the badlands. The walls of the maze rise as narrow buildings that serve as homes, shops, and defensible fortresses for the city’s predominantly minotaur population. Mighty stone outcroppings tower over the labyrinth, including temples to Mogis (the most prominent), Erebos, Keranos, and Purphoros. The fortress-palaces of tyrants, the lairs of monstrous oracles, and cavernous indoor markets also stand as destinations at the end of confounding avenues.

Priests and warlord champions of Mogis rule the city, with individuals serving as tyrants over city districts. The city’s rulers rarely meet in council, and when they do, the quarrelsome tyrants rarely find common cause or any basis for agreement. Only the priests of Mogis can force the city’s leaders to put aside their quarrels and work toward a single goal.